Car-switching.



1\To.894,"768.v v PATENTED JULY 28,1908.

- F.N-.WONDERLIN. v

' GAR SWITCHING. APPLICATION PIfiED DEG. 20,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.PAT'ENTED JULY 28, 1908.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F N WONDERLI N GAR SWITCHING. APPLICATION II-LED DEU.20,1906.

FREDERICK N. WONDERLIN, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

oAn-swrrcnme.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1908.

Application filed December 20, 1906. Serial No. 348,705.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK N. WON- DERLIN a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Switching, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide certain new and usefulimprovements in car switching especially adapted for use in connectionwith street cars, whereby the operator may, by depressing a foot lever,cause an arm carried by the car to engage a bell-crank lever in theswitch frog, which bell-crank lever will automatically force the movableswitch point to the desired position for directing the car to eitheroftwo branches of the track.

A further object is to provide an improved switch frog containing thebell-crank levers for operating the switchpoint and so arranged that thearms carried by the cars will be guided to the proper places in theswitch frog for operating the bell-crank levers and at the same time aswitch frog will be provided over which vehicles may safely travel inall directions without interfering with themechanism therein contained.

My invention consists in certain details in the construction,arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 showsa side elevation of a portion of astreet car provided with my improved switch operating devices. Fig. 2shows an enlarged sectional transverse view illustrating a section of acar provided with my im provements and a switch plug provided with myimprovements beneath the car and on the railway tie. Fig. 3 shows anenlarged detail view in vertical section of a portion of the switch frogto illustrate the shape of the cavity in which the bell crank lever iscontained. In this view one of the arms carried by acar is showninposition in engagement with the bellcrank lever. Fig. 4 shows a planview of a railway truck having a branch therein with my improved switchfrog in position, and Fig. 5 shows a plan view of m improved switch frogdetached, with a part of the upper plate broken away to show theinterior construction.

Referring to theaccompanying drawings,

I shall first describe the operating mechanism carried by the car. Thismechanism consists of two independent switch operating devices, eachcomprising a lever 10 fulcrumed at its forward end to a bracket ll-onthe car and extended rearwardly and downwardly. At its. rear lower endis a contractible coil spring 12 fixed to the lever and to the car, tonormally hold the lever elevated. Pivoted between the ends of the lever10 is an upright shaft 13 having a treadle 14 at its upper end projectedabove the floor of the car. the rear end of the lever .10 is a switchoperating arm 15 having a sliding connection with the lever 10. Thissliding connection is made by having the bolt 16 extended through thearm 15 and through a slot 17 in the lever 10. The lower portion of thearm 15 is supported and guided by a bracket 18 fixed to the car truck19. The sliding connection between the lever 10 and the arm 15 is madenecessary on account of the lateral move ment of the truck relative tothe car platform.

The reference numeral 21 is used to indicate the cross ties and 22 therails of a main track. Two branch tracks 23 and 24 connect with the maintrack 22 in the ordinary manner.

The switch frog comprises a hollow base portion 25 having brace plates26 connected therewith and spiked to the cross ties. Webs 27 projectoutwardly from said base 25 and support the top plate of the switchfrog. Extensions ofthe various rails extend across the surface of thetop plate and movable switch point 28 is provided. The arrangement ofthese rail extensions and the switch point is the same as is now incommon use and a detail description thereof is deemed unnecessary. Atabout the central portion of the top plate of the switch frog on eachside of the movable switch point is a chamber 29 extendinglongitudinally of the switch frog and at one end of said chamber 29, Ihave provided two guide ribs 30 converging at the adjacent end of saidchamber and projected above-the surface of' top plate for the purpose ofguiding the arms 15 into said chamber. The opening at the top of thechamber 19 is made so narrow that vehicle wheels cannot enter it, butthe arms 15 are of such thickness that they will readily enter saidchamber.

There is a similar switch point operating device on each side of theswitch point.

These devices, each comprise a bell-crank lever 31 pivoted beneath theadjacent rail member. One end of the bell-crank lever normally lies in aslot 32 under the rail extension and the other end normally projects atright angles through the chamber 29 and into a slot 33 in the top plate.A contractible coil spring 34 is attached to each bell-crank lever andto a part of the switch frog to normally hold the bell-crank lever inthe above described position. When said bell-crank lever is moved aquarter revolution against the spring pressure, one end will projectbeyond the rail member and engage the movable switch point and throw itto its limit of movement away from the bell-crank lever and as soon asthe bell-crank lever is released, its spring 34 will return it to itsnormal position.

In practical use and assuming the bellcrank levers to be in thepositions shown in Fig. 4L and assuming further that it is desired todirect a car approaching the branch to the right track at the branch,then the operator on the car places his foot upon the treadle 14 on theright side just as he approaches the switch frog. The guide ribs 30 onthe top plate of the switch frog will direct the arm 15 into the chamber29. This chamber is made of such depth that the ordinary up and downmovements of the car will not prevent the arm 15 from striking theoutwardly projecting portion of the bell-crank lever. When the car arm15 strikes said lever, it will immediately force the switch point to theleft, as shown by solid lines in Fig. 4 and then the car will bedirected to the right branch of the track. As soon as the arm 15 )assesthe bellcrank lever, the spring 34 wil return it to normal position andhence the movable switch point will remain in the position in which itwas laced so that the rear truck of the car will fo low the forward one,so that it is not necessary to provide any means for setting the movableswitch point for the rear truck of the car.

The chamber 29 is made so narrow that vehicle wheels will not enter 'itand if it should become filled with sand or other material, it will becleaned out each time that a car passes over the switch frog where itmay be readily and quickly cleaned out with a broom or the like becausethe bell-crank lever may be moved to position clear of the chamber sothat it may be easily swept out.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, therefor isl. In a device of theclass described, the combination of a switch frog having branched trackmembers thereon, said frog having a longitudinal depressed chamberformed on each side of the track member, a movable switch point, leversfulcrumed in the switch frog below its top surface and designed toengage the movable switch point, said levers being also projected acrosssaid chambers, springs for normally holding the levers away from theswitch point, and diverging guide ribs at one end of each of said.chambers.

2. An improvement in car switching, eomprising a main track, a branchtrack connected therewith, a switch frog having branched rail membersthereon, a movable switch point pivoted to the switch frog, alongitudinal chamber on each side of the frog, two bell-crank leversfulcrumed under the rail members on opposite sides of the movable switchpoint and projecting across the chambers inthe switch frog, springs fornormally holding said levers out of engagement with the movable switchpoint and divergent guide ribs at one end of each of said chambers.

3. An improvement in car switching, com prising a main track, a branchtrack connected therewith, a switch frog having branched rail membersthereon, a movable switch point pivoted to the switch frog, alongitudinal chamber on each side of the frog, two bell-crank levers,fulcrumed under the rail members on opposite sides of the movable switchpoint and projecting across the chambers in the switch frog, springs fornormally holding said levers out of engagement with the movable switchpoint, diverg ent guide ribs at one end of each of said chambers, a car,a lever fulcrumed at its forward end to the car and extended rearwardly,a bracket fixed to the car truck, an arm slidingly mounted in saidbracket and slidingly and pivotally connected with said lover, a springfor elevating the rear end of said lever and a foot lever for depressingit.

Des Moines, Iowa, November 10, 1906.

FREDERICK N. YYONDElildN.

Witnesses:

J. RALPH Onwre, S. F. Cnms'rr.

